The owner must be quick, shrewd and perfect in hiring the man to replace Andy Reid.

PHILADELPHIA — — Jeffrey Lurie's Philadelphia Eagles have reached critical mass, and by this point any time not spent formulating offseason plans for coaching and personnel upgrades is time wasted.

The majority owner, who prefers remaining behind the scenes when it comes to football issues, is part of many cutting-edge projects that, in the grand scheme of things, may be more important than the quality of football his team plays.

But there's no time for saving the environment or enlightening the masses about the crooks on Wall Street or anything else like that right now.

Lurie shouldn't even spend much time addressing his thoughts behind the inevitable parting of ways with head coach Andy Reid — whenever it actually takes place.

We already know his thoughts. Hell, there's not one writer who's spent any time around the team for the last decade-and-a-half who couldn't compose his speech for him in 15 minutes.

"Andy Reid has been a great coach for us and a greater man, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."

Point is, the most important competition in the NFL takes place in the offseason, especially for teams undergoing coaching changes. The sooner Lurie gets cracking on the business of getting his football product back to relevance, the better off he'll be with all his other pursuits.

He needs a silver linings playbook.

Obviously the coach is first priority, because everything else falls into place from there.

Some players, even some of the very good ones, may not fit the scheme of the next guy.

If, for instance, the new coach wants to install a 3-4 defense instead of the 4-3 they currently run, what becomes of edge rushers such as Brandon Graham, Trent Cole and Vinny Curry? None seem to have the size to remain with their hands in the dirt in a 3-4, which generally calls for much bigger defensive ends.

Could they make the transition to outside linebacker, which some played in college but were never considered for in the much faster NFL?

That would be up to the new coach and his staff, who also must figure out how many linebackers will be able to contribute.

Either way, they'd need more, as the construction of the roster itself would have to be different. No longer, for example, would the Eagles be able to hoard hordes of up to 10 defensive linemen, as they've been accustomed to doing most years under Reid.

On offense, the new coach must decide whether Michael Vick, Nick Foles or another quarterback not on the team now is best suited to take the reins next season. That selection will be dictated in large part by the new system.

If it turns out to be the spread option that might just be the wave of the future in this league, then the Eagles might not need to keep all four of their highly qualified running backs.

Even the offensive line's composition might have to change. Some of the starters now, such as center Jason Kelce (on injured reserve) and left guard Evan Mathis, who last year was attracted to the Eagles as a free agent due to the presence of line coach Howard Mudd, have mastered the techniques of Mudd's jump sets, which require more athleticism than the average lineman in this league.

However, there's been a tradeoff. Both are smaller than the average offensive lineman, especially the kind the Eagles used to employ before Mudd arrived last season.

Neither believe they will have a problem fitting any system.

Kelce, down to a svelte (for him) 270 pounds while rehabbing his knee injury, said he can get to any size and shape, within reason, a new system would demand.

"I would let the new coach dictate that," he said. "But there wouldn't be a problem."

Maybe not. But that ultimately will be up to the new coach to decide.

Until then, the Eagles are basically hamstrung.

Getting the right coach requires hustle as much as anything else. After the 2010 season, Reid inexplicably didn't hustle to replace fired defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. He wound up almost having to hire Juan Castillo, who by the time he learned on the job how to be a competent coordinator, was then fired for a crime we know now that he didn't commit (though he did cover it up pretty well).

Lurie needs to operate quickly in this jungle, where it's survival of the fittest and fastest.

He needs to snatch the right candidate, whoever that may be, before any competitor, including former associate Joe Banner, can beat him to the punch.

In turn, they can possibly beat others to prime targets in the trade and free-agent markets and so forth.

Lurie can go back to his windmills and any other noble, Quixotic pursuits after that.

But for now, football should be the only priority. This next hire will be the most important of his ownership.